1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of communications. More particularly, the present invention relates to a client terminal that provides for a subscription to a bundle of channels from a program guide.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Video program providers, such as cable and satellite networks, offer tiered levels of service from which a user can subscribe. These tiered levels of service include many different channels. Typically there are basic tiers, expanded basic tiers, and premium tiers. The basic tier level of service usually includes “must carry” and retransmission channels known as broadcast network channels, e.g., ABC, NBC, CBS, etc. The expanded basic tier includes the basic tier channels and an aggregation of satellite channels, e.g., USA, FOX, TNT, MTV, VH1, etc. Video program providers typically charge a fixed subscription fee for subscription to the basic tier or to the expanded basic tier or other tiered clusters of channels.
Video program providers also offer a variety of premium tiers that, in addition to the basic tier or the expanded basic tier, include “premium channels,” such as HOME BOX OFFICE (HBO), SHOWTIME (SHO), CINEMAX (CMAX), STARZ, ENCORE (ENC) etc. Premium channels typically offer video programming that is not available from the basic tier channels and the expanded basic tier channels, such as newly released movies. Video program providers usually charge an extra subscription fee for each premium channel subscribed to, above and beyond the subscription fee for the basic tier or the expanded basic tier. Also, for subscribers who wish to subscribe to more than one premium channel, video program providers often provide “bundles” of premium channels (e.g. HBO and SHO combined), which have a discounted subscription fee for the bundle of premium channels—as opposed to what the additive subscription fee would be if each of the premium channels were subscribed to individually.
Typically, the channels that the user has subscribed to (i.e. subscribed channels) are shown in an on-screen program guide to the user on the user's display device (e.g. a television set). On-screen program guides usually display a listing of channels, typically in numerical order (based on the channel position and the channel call sign of the video transmission system), and the titles of the programs being broadcasted or to be broadcasted on the channels. These on-screen program guides typically show the user the list of channels and corresponding programs in a fixed grid format that scrolls (automatically or manually via user input) in a vertical direction across the screen for a fixed interval of time—displayed in a horizontal direction across the screen. The user of the program guide may then select the channel by entering in the channel number or selecting a program. The system responds by removing the program guide being displayed and tuning to the station selected and displaying the program.
Unfortunately, the channels that the user has not subscribed to (i.e. non-subscribed channels) are oftentimes not shown in the program guide. This represents a loss of advertising of the non-subscribed channel to the user. Furthermore, to subscribe to a non-subscribed channel, a user must undergo the laborious process of calling the video program provider to subscribe to the channel, which is inconvenient and time consuming. Moreover, even if a user can get through to the video program provider to subscribe to a non-subscribed channel (e.g. a premium channel), the user may be charged solely for the premium channel and may not be provided with or offered a subscription to a more cost effective bundle of premium channels, other bundles of channels providing a greater array of premium channels, or to special promotions offered by the video program provider.
There is, therefore, the need to provide techniques to provide a user with a subscription to an appropriate bundle of channels.